Previews

Full Spectrum Warrior

Spiffy:

Control scheme translates brilliantly to the mouse and keyboard; visuals look great in high-resolution.

Iffy:

No new functionality in terms of interface, no competitive multiplayer mode.

Full Spectrum Warrior flipped many tried-and-true RTS conventions in some very pleasant ways. With a look that suggested squad-based action, but a design that was firmly grounded in RTS conventions, the game was both unfathomable, initially, but profoundly intuitive, once one came to grips. The soon-to-be-released PC port is no different. Apart from a pair of new scenarios, it's virtually identical to its Xbox forebear. The mouse and keyboard control scheme, however, brings with it a host of refinements as a side-effect. The end result, as it looks now, is a superbly playable, and visually stunning game -- much more so than its predecessor.

If you've played the game on Xbox, then nothing in this PC version will really take you by surprise. There are two new scenarios to play, both of which take place after the original set of missions, and expand upon the stories of the game's colorful cast. Here's the bad news: there will be no competitive online mode. The cooperative online game that was on the Xbox -- which allowed a living person to command each of the single-player game's fireteams -- is back here, and it will be powered by GameSpy Arcade, no less. But the tantalizing idea of a competitive play remains as of yet unrealized. Too bad.

The good news, though, is that the game has carried over quite elegantly to the PC. Once you handle the game via a mouse and keyboard, you'll wonder how you ever got used to executing all that intricate stuff via the comparatively clunky Xbox controller. Not to take anything away from the console version's control scheme -- it was impressive how Pandemic managed to map everything onto the pad, and make it intuitive as it did, to boot. But there's just no going back, as it were, once you experience it PC-style.

Clicking the right button allows you to place your movement cursor, the controls of which feel many times smoother than they did on the Xbox pad's analog stick. As you know, placing it in strategically sound locations is very important, especially in the heat of a firefight, and the ease of control the mouse offers makes a world of difference. Meanwhile, left clicking opens up your targeting sector -- the circular reticle through which you order your fireteams to shoot things. This also feels much smoother, via a mouse. Similar to its Xbox counterpart, finally, holding the left mouse button down will order the active fireteam to lay on suppressive fire.

The keyboard is also utilized to great effect. The number keys have your various secondary weapons mapped to them -- smoke and frag grenades, mortar strikes, and the like -- while the WASD keys allow you to select individual members of your fireteam. The fact that this is somewhat analogous to how traditional shooters control emphasizes the sort of gray area that Full Spectrum Warrior occupies, in terms of categorization -- e.g., how it looks like a squad-based shooter, but plays like an RTS. But in purely utilitarian terms, it works marvelously. Again, you'll wonder how you ever played the game without a mouse and keyboard. Lastly, the tab key allows you to shift between your active fireteams, a function that is also mapped the mousewheel.

That pretty much sums up the differences, in terms of controls. If you're familiar with the Xbox version of the game, it should be evident to you just from reading this exactly how smoothly the transition went. I personally played the hell out of the Xbox version, and I'm finding myself eager to give it another go on the strength of the refined interface alone. The slick graphics don't hurt, though -- to put it in no unclear terms, Full Spectrum Warrior looks slick as hell when running in high resolution. Everything looks more clear and crisp, and seeing more of the world makes your tactical situation that much more favorable.

I'm almost afraid to say it, but Full Spectrum Warrior looks like it was made to be played on a PC. Unfortunately, some of the features I was hoping would make it into the port didn't -- namely, the RTS-specific functionality (cued commands, basically) that so many of us were hoping would. Oh well. There's always the sequel.